Joan J. Soto-Angel

My research focuses on species diversity, diversification and distribution in marine invertebrates, with a special focus on Cnidaria (polyps, siphonophores and jellyfish) and Ctenophora (comb jellies) from polar regions.

Benthic hydrozoa play a fundamental role as habitat formers and nursery, while cnidarian jellyfish, siphonophores and ctenophores are key prey and predators in healthy planktonic food webs. This specially applies to polar regions; home to extremely vulnerable yet highly diverse ecosystems which are experiencing unprecedented rapid changes due to global climate change. This extreme communities are at risk of disappearing before we can achieve a good understanding of their diversity and distribution. 

To better understand the hidden diversity in an area and/or within a complex of species, I apply an integrative taxonomy approach combining morphological, ecological and molecular data. I also have a wide interest in both the ecological and evolutionary significance of intra and interspecific variations in life cycle strategies. As a MSCA postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Natural History at the University Museum, I aim to decipher the phenomenon of bipolarity, i.e. the presence of the same (or related) species in both Arctic and Antarctic regions, by using the wide array of hydrozoan life cycle strategies as a model.